Glycemic Index of Drinks & Beverages

Glasses of sparkling water, orange juice, iced tea, cola and a cup of coffee

Drinks are where hidden carbs pile up fastest. Water, coffee, tea, and diet soda have none. Fruit juices test low, 41–50, but a glass carries 20–34 g of carbs with none of the fiber of the whole fruit. Regular soda, sports drinks, and cranberry cocktail are the worst of the group: medium-to-high GI and a GL as high as 24 per glass.

Below are GI, GL, and carbs for 17 drinks, the swaps that matter most, and a shopping list you can print.

Zero carbs: water, black coffee, unsweetened tea, diet soda

Highest GI: sports drinks (78)

Highest GL: cranberry juice cocktail (24 per glass)

Glycemic index of drinks: 17 compared

Drink GI GL Carbs Serving Fits these plans
Water or sparkling water Water or sparkling water No GI ~0 0 g 250 ml All plans
Coffee, black Coffee, black No GI ~0 0 g 250 ml All plans
Tea, unsweetened Tea, unsweetened No GI ~0 0 g 250 ml All plans
Diet soda Diet soda
Zero carbs		 No GI ~0 0 g 250 ml All plans
Tomato juice Tomato juice
Lowest-GI juice		 38 3 9 g 250 ml Low-GI, South Beach P1, Mediterranean, Diabetes-friendly
Apple juice, unsweetened Apple juice, unsweetened 41 12 30 g 250 ml Low-GI
Carrot juice Carrot juice 43 10 23 g 250 ml Low-GI
Pineapple juice Pineapple juice 46 16 34 g 250 ml Low-GI
Grapefruit juice Grapefruit juice 48 10 20 g 250 ml Low-GI
Orange juice Orange juice 50 13 26 g 250 ml Low-GI
Cola Cola 63 16 26 g 250 ml —
Cranberry juice cocktail Cranberry juice cocktail
Highest GL here		 68 24 36 g 250 ml —
Orange soda Orange soda 68 23 34 g 250 ml —
Sports drink Sports drink
Highest GI here		 78 12 15 g 250 ml —
Wine, dry Wine, dry No GI ~0 4 g 150 ml Mediterranean (in moderation)
Beer, regular Beer, regular 66 7 10 g 250 ml —
Spirits (whiskey, vodka, gin) Spirits (whiskey, vodka, gin) No GI ~0 0 g 45 ml Keto (no carbs)

GI: low 55 or less, medium 56–69, high 70+. GL per serving: low 10 or less, medium 11–19, high 20+. 250 ml is about 1 cup; most bottles and cans hold 1.5–2 times that. Beer’s GI comes from limited testing.

What to know about drinks

Juice tests low, but it’s not fruit. Orange juice (50) and apple juice (41) are low GI because their sugar is largely fructose. But a glass of orange juice has a GL of 13, against 5 for a whole orange, and none of the fiber that makes fruit filling.

Liquid carbs go down fast. A 20-ounce bottle of soda holds about 65 g of carbs, more than a large plate of pasta, and you can finish it in minutes.

Sports drinks are built to be high GI. At 78, they’re designed to deliver fast energy during long exercise. Outside a workout, they’re sugar water.

Alcohol is its own case. Dry wine and spirits have few or no carbs, and beer’s GL is modest. But alcohol can affect blood sugar in other ways, especially for people on diabetes medication, so it’s worth discussing with your doctor.

Best and worst picks

Drink freely

  • Water and sparkling water
  • Black coffee
  • Unsweetened tea, hot or iced
  • Diet soda, in moderation

Small glass, occasionally

  • Tomato juice (38)
  • Fruit juices (41–50)
  • Dry wine

Limit

  • Cranberry juice cocktail (GL 24)
  • Orange soda (GL 23)
  • Cola (GL 16)
  • Sports drinks (78)

Smart swaps

Instead of Try The difference
Regular soda Sparkling water with a squeeze of citrus GL 16–23 → zero
Orange juice A whole orange and a glass of water GL 13 → 5
Cranberry juice cocktail Sparkling water with a splash of cranberry GL 24 → about 3
Sweetened iced tea Unsweetened iced tea with lemon All the sugar gone
Sports drink (outside exercise) Water GI 78 → nothing to digest

Low-GI drinks shopping list

  • Sparkling water, plain or naturally flavored

  • Coffee

  • Tea: black, green, or herbal

  • Tomato or vegetable juice, low sodium

  • Lemons and limes for flavoring water

Reading the label:

  • “Juice drink” and “juice cocktail” mean added sugar. 100% juice is better, but still a small-glass drink.

  • Check the servings per bottle. Many bottles list carbs for half the bottle.

  • Flavored sparkling waters vary: some are unsweetened, some have as much sugar as soda.

Tips to help you succeed

  • Keep sparkling water cold. I keep a case in the fridge. When I want something fizzy, it’s right there instead of soda.

  • Use a small glass for juice. A 4-ounce juice glass holds half the carbs of a full cup.

  • Brew iced tea yourself. A pitcher of unsweetened iced tea keeps for days and costs almost nothing.

  • Watch the coffee add-ons. Flavored syrups and sweetened creamers can turn a zero-carb coffee into a 40 g drink.

Frequently asked questions

Is orange juice high glycemic?

Not by GI: it tests at 50, in the low range. But a cup has 26 g of carbs and a GL of 13, against 5 for a whole orange. Whole fruit is the better choice.

Does coffee raise blood sugar?

Black coffee has no carbohydrate, so it has no GI. What you add is what counts: sugar, syrups, and sweetened creamers.

Is diet soda OK on a low-GI diet?

It has no carbs and no GI, so it doesn’t raise blood sugar directly. Many people still prefer to treat it as an occasional drink rather than a replacement for water.

Which alcohol has the fewest carbs?

Spirits like vodka, gin, and whiskey have none on their own, and dry wine has about 4 g per glass. Mixers, sweet wines, and regular beer add carbs.

Printable drinks list

A free one-page version of this list is coming soon. For the full printable set covering every food group, see the glycemic index food lists at Health List Now.

GI values vary between tests. This page is general information, not medical advice. Last reviewed October 2026.